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The Department of Environmental Services said that while the northern part of the state is faring well, the southern tier is considered abnormally dry. Areas along the coast and in the Lamprey River watershed are of particular concern.

"We're in the lowest 5 to 10 percent of flows over that 80 years for this time period, so it's low," said Ted Diers of DES Watershed Management. "It's really low."

Communities along the Lamprey River watershed have been asked to voluntarily conserve for nearly a month.

"Our concern is two-fold," Diers said. "One is humans having enough water to drink, and the other is the wildlife."

While the entire southern part of the state is drier than normal, some communities have been hit harder. Newmarket is one of those feeling it the worst.

"We just have not had a lot of rain since June, and our wells are drying up," Newmarket Town Administrator Steve Fournier said.

The town's two wells and ground water monitoring systems are checked every day.

"I want to say that we're probably seeing a half a foot a month in the ground levels that are dropping," said Sean Gregg of the Public Works Department.

Officials said they're hoping for a few days of steady rain. Residents have been restricted to outdoor water use every other day.

"Our wells are very low," Fournier said. "We're probably within weeks, if not days, of going to the next level, in which all outside water use would be banned in the community."

Officials said water levels aren't at historic lows. They said things were much worse in the early 2000s and back in the 1960s.